Shadow of the Dolocher

by European P. Douglas

"Well, then you may help to take him off the suspect list then."

  Someone coughed, and they both looked at the man shuffling past, wrapped up against the cold.

  "Do you know who I think is behind all this?" Muc said with a sly grin.

  "Who?" Edwards asked, thinking it as well to humour him.

  "The Alderman."

  "That would be a quite a scandal," Edwards said, not able to stop himself from laughing.

  "It's not as funny as all that. He's often been prowling the streets alone at night. He has the opportunity to do what he wants and the kind of friends who would probably give him an alibi whenever he asked."

  "Do a lot of people around here share your ideas?" Edwards asked; Muc seemed very confident in his assertion.

  "I don't know, but I'm sure some have thought of it just as I have."

  "There might be something to it," Edwards said not able to control his mischievous side. "It could be true I suppose."

  "Maybe you should have someone follow him too?" Muc suggested.

  "Maybe I should," Edwards said, his tone serious though inside he was still laughing. If only these people knew how much the Alderman wanted to protect them. It would kill the Alderman to know that he was a suspect in this case. Edwards knew that it was a fool's errand, on the Alderman's part, in the first place, ever to seek the forgiveness of the people of this area. They were incapable of it as far as he could see. The Alderman thought of them as if they were the same as himself, but these were different creatures entirely. He thought for a moment about letting the Alderman know this little nugget of information, but he decided against it. It was hard enough for the Alderman as it was without adding this to his worries.

  Chapter 31

  Scally popped his head inside the shop with a look of concern on his face.

  "What is it?" Mullins asked.

  "That man who was here before is back, and he has some more soldiers with him." Mullins looked out through the small gap in the curtain that Scally made as he held it up. He walked to the door and Scally backed away to let him come out. Alderman James was coming across the road with five soldiers, and he had a resolute and angry face. His eyes bore into Mullins.

  "What can I help you with, Sir," Mullins said when they were close enough.

  "I have one question Mr. Mullins," the Alderman said sharply. "Were you on Ash Street two nights ago; in the vicinity of Croslick lane?" Mullins felt his stomach lurch, and he knew instinctively that there had been another murder. Could he lie? No, there was no point. It was a case of mistaken identity, it had happened before. He would spend a few hours in prison and then be sent on his way. If he lied, he would only draw suspicion on himself.

  "I was."

  "Then you must come with us." The soldiers came forward and took him by the arms. The Alderman had already turned and walked away heading for the front gate of Newgate gaol across the road. Mullins didn't give any resistance as he knew where that would get him.

  "Lock up and go home Scally," he called out trying to look over his shoulder. Alderman James was at the gate of the 'Black Dog' now and knocking with his cane. The gates were opened just as Mullins and the soldiers got there and it didn't interrupt their step.

  They came to a halt and stood in the courtyard for a little while, no one saying anything and none of his captors looking at him. Then a man Mullins recognised as the new gaoler, whose name escaped him just then, appeared from the back rooms and greeted them.

  "Where do you want to put him?" the gaoler asked

  "Any quiet room for a chat will do, Mr. Cabinteely," the Alderman said.

  "This way so," the cheery gaoler said leading them back the way he had come. They passed along a corridor with heavy wooden doors locked on either side. Someone said something from within one as they passed but the gaoler barked at them to be quiet, and no more sound came forth. Mullins was finally led into a small room at the very end of the corridor. It held one small pile of hay and nothing more. There were no windows, and no candle, bar the one Cabinteely carried, lighted the room. "This do you?" he asked the Alderman who nodded that it would. Cabinteely lit a lantern by the door and one inside the room and left.

  "Put him in and wait outside," the Alderman said to the soldiers. They did as commanded and the Alderman came in and closed the door so that he and Mullins were alone in the room.

  "We've been here before," the Alderman said, Mullins was glad that he remembered.

  "Yes, Sir."

  "Why are we here again?" He seemed to be genuinely asking, and Mullins didn't know what to say in response. He stayed silent. "You've heard about the latest murder?"

  "No," Mullins said, terrified now that he knew he was right about his feeling before.

  "It was on Ash Street, the body found just off it, in the alleyway."

  "The night I was there?" Mullins asked, already knowing the answer. Alderman James arched his eyebrows at this.

  "Yes," he said.

  "I'm sure you know that I'm no killer?" Mullins said hopefully, remembering the Alderman's faith him in two years ago when in the same situation.

  "I don't know anyone anymore." The Alderman was cold in tone, and this certainly was not the answer Mullins had hoped to hear.

  "I didn't do it," he said in a panic.

  "What were you doing up there that night?"

  "I was to do a job for someone."

  "Who?"

  "I don't know, they weren't at home?"

  "You don't know?" the Alderman sounded incredulous.

  "Someone gave my boy at the shop some money and the address and asked me to come after hours for some work at the back of the house."

  "And you don't know who this person was?"

  "No, no one was there on the night, and I've sent the boy three times to the house to return the money, but he hasn't gotten an answer yet either."

  "Do you often do jobs like that?"

  "Not often but sometimes, I have to take the work as it comes."

  "You were seen in the area on that night, by numerous people."

  "Yes, I walked around as I waited for the person to show up."

  "Did you see anyone else around?"

  "No, it was very quiet, I don't think I saw a single person at all." He was trying to remember if he had or not but no one was coming to mind.

  "A woman was killed." It sounded as though it were an accusation, but the Alderman's face didn't betray anything.

  "I didn't see any woman," Mullins reiterated. He could feel the sweat in his palms, and he rubbed at them to try to dry it off, shaking them lightly in the air by his sides now.

  "If this was a once off thing I could think of forgetting about it, but this is a lot of times when you have been in the wrong place at the wrong time."

  "I was only here once before, Sir," Mullins said in defence.

  "You were at Cleaves grave a while back too, were you not?" This stunned Mullins into silence, and he looked at his inquisitor with pleading eyes.

  "I heard people say they were going to dig it up to see if he was still in there. They were afraid of the Dolocher," he mumbled

  "Why were you there?"

  "I needed to see for myself that he was still in there."

  "And was he?"

  "No."

  "But you already knew that didn't you?"

  "No!" this time he raised his voice in passion.

  "I have witnesses that say you were at that graveside a few nights before acting suspiciously when people passed by."

  "No, I was only there the night they dug it up! Never any other time!"

  "This does not look good for you Mr. Mullins."

  "But I didn't do anything."

  "It is not for me to decide."

  "I swear to you that I'm innocent," Mullins pleaded. The Alderman was silent for a few moments and looked to be in deep thought.

  "You drank and conversed with Cleaves the whole time he was killing your neighbours, up to when he faked his own death and who knows maybe after that
."

  "No, I was the one who caught him?"

  "Did you, though? Or was he a loyal friend to the end, one that was willing to lay down his life that you be spared yours?" Was he actually saying this? Did he really believe that Mullins had been the Dolocher all along and had let his friend go to the gallows in his stead?

  "I've never hurt anyone in my life," he said plaintively.

  "There is many a man in the local taverns who will say different."

  "I've been in fights from time to time, I freely admit that, but I'm not capable of anything worse than that."

  "Did you think Cleaves was capable of what he is accused of?" This silenced Mullins, and he thought about this. He hadn't thought Cleaves capable of anything like what he had done. Right now, however, admitting that made him even more suspect.

  "No," he said, the lie not coming to him with enough force to go through with it.

  "So you can see how things might look to me right now?" Mullins didn't want to answer this, but he nodded slowly.

  "I swear to God I didn't do this, any of this," he said looking deeply into the Alderman's eyes.

  "It doesn't look good for you," The Alderman said, and he knocked at the door for the soldiers to let him out.

  Chapter 32

  Kate stood dejected and in tears at the gates of 'The Black Dog.' She had come here as soon as Scally had let her know that Tim had been arrested. She came straight to the gaol and banged at the gates. As she stood waiting for someone to answer her, she thought of how odd life was. She had been a prisoner here, in the 'Nunnery' when she worked the streets, and she had wanted so much to get out of its stinking wretchedness that she swore that she would never go back there. The guard came to the slot,

  "What is it?" he barked.

  "My husband is in there."

  "No visitors for any prisoners."

  "But he's innocent!"

  "No visitors, don't knock on the gate again." And with that, the slot shut, and she was left standing there. Kate didn't know what to do, and she felt so hopeless and alone. There was no one she could turn to; the only person she could think who might be able to help was the Alderman, but Scally had told her he was the one who had arrested her husband.

  Everything seemed so helpless, and there was a sick feeling that Tim would be locked up for good. She had no doubt that he was innocent but that meant nothing to the judges, all they wanted was someone they could blame, and they had that in Tim. He had been arrested before, at the very scene of one of the Dolocher's murders and he had been a good friend of the man who turned out to be that crazed killer, the man who had tried to kill Kate herself that night by the docks.

  They could hang this on Tim easily, and there was nothing she could say or do that would be of any use to him. These facts jumbled around in her head and images of Tim's temper came to mind. Before she knew what was happening, Kate realised she was entertaining thoughts that perhaps Tim could be the killer this time round. She shook her head, regaining her sense, she knew he couldn't be, she just knew it, didn't she? A harsh clacking of wooden carriage wheels and the creaking of the axles met her ears.

  "Kate?" a voice that she knew too well said softly. She looked up to see Edwards peering out the opened door of his coach.

  "What do you want?" she said sharply, her anger overriding her fear at that moment.

  "I want to help you," he said and then after a brief pause "and your husband." She looked at him suspiciously but there was something in the way he spoke, and in her desperation and desire she answered,

  "How?"

  "Come with me, and we'll talk some," he offered his hand to help her into the coach.

  "Why can't we talk here?" she asked.

  "Because I don't want to," he said humourlessly. Kate didn't know what to do; she looked at the coachman and wondered would he say anything if he ever found out that his master was a killer “Do you want my help or not?" Edwards asked impatiently. Kate hesitated for a moment but looking around and seeing nothing that might in any way help her she took his hand and climbed up into the black box.

  When she was inside, sitting across from him, he covered her lap with a thick, soft blanket, and she didn't try to stop him. The carriage moved off, and she looked out the window just for a general sense of the direction they were heading.

  "You were not able to talk to your husband?" he asked after a time. She shook her head. "Have you been told even what he has been arrested for?"

  "No."

  "There was another murder a couple of nights ago, a woman up on Ash Street." She immediately knew that Tim had been arrested for this, she remembered that he was in that area the other night waiting for a man who never showed up.

  "He didn't kill her."

  "I know that, and you know that, but it does not look good for him."

  "Why, just because he was out that night? He can't have been the only person in Dublin out."

  "He was seen all around the area where she was killed, but that is not all."

  "What else is there?"

  "There are many witnesses that put him in the vicinity of the other murders as well and..." he stopped as if he were searching for the right way to express his next thought.

  "What is it?"

  "He has been seen around the Dolocher's grave."

  "What?" this she did not expect to hear.

  "The Dolocher is missing from there, did you know that?"

  "Yes, I heard that; everyone has."

  "Your husband is suspected of digging him up and moving him and replacing him with the dead woman who was found there."

  "There's no way he would do any of this." She was crying now, and she looked out the window in an attempt to hide this fact. "What can you do to help then?" she said after a while remembering that this was why she had gotten into the coach with him in the first place.

  "Well, one way really."

  "Which is?"

  "There are a lot of witnesses in this case, and all of them put your husband where he should not have been," he started, and she could see something wicked come over his face. "Witnesses are fickle beings, they can disappear as quickly as they crop up." She looked at him, and his smiling face sickened her as it dawned on her what he had done.

  "You hired them all to say he did these things!" she spat at him.

  "I don't know what you can be implying," he replied, but she knew by his almost mocking face that she was right. He had played a master stroke against her, and now the life of her very husband was hanging on whether she would leave him and go with this evil man.

  "How can you do this?" she asked, her voice searching for something in him, some conscience.

  "I'm offering to help you?" his tone affected injury.

  "And what do you get from this?"

  "Your gratitude I hope."

  "And in what form should my gratitude come?"

  "You know what I want. I want to make you happy."

  "You want me to make you happy you mean."

  "They are one and the same thing."

  "Not to me."

  "The choice is yours, Kate. I love you, I want you by my side. If you agree to leave your husband and come to me, I will ensure his release." She cried again, this time it was in defeat. She knew that she couldn't let Tim stay in that place and then go to trial. She knew in her heart that she was going to have to leave him to save him. She searched for something else she could do, some other way that she could save him but there was nothing, nothing that Tim would ever go along with."

  "What if I came to you a few times a week?" she offered, ashamed of her voice as she said it.

  "That won't be enough."

  "How can do this to me?"

  "You don't see it now, but in time you will see that I am saving you." His look was almost convincing, and she had to wonder if he actually believed in what he was saying. She looked out the window again. There was no way out for her. She was going to have to do what he wanted.

  "Why does Tim have to suffer for
this?"

  "No one has to suffer at all," he said. She looked at him coldly, his eyes darkly merry.

  Chapter 33

  Kate stood on the doorstep of the house. She had been here once before, but she never thought she would be back. Kate knocked and waited for someone to let her in. Though the staff wouldn't know it, they were going to be showing in the new lady of the house. The idea of this title didn't even raise a smile in her, not for the fact of it or for its irony. The door opened, and a maid she vaguely recognised from her last visit here answered timidly.

  "Can I help you?" she looked over Kate, clearly not expecting someone like her to be calling, or perhaps she remembered Kate too, knew what she had been in a previous life.

  "I'm here to see Mr. Edwards, he's expecting me."

  "He's not at home right now."

  "Can I come in and wait?" Kate asked when a long enough silence passed that she knew that maid wasn't going to invite her in. The maid looked nervous at the thought of this, and she looked behind her, but there was no one there she could ask what to do. "He will be very displeased if he returns to find me standing on his doorstep," Kate added. The maid thought one moment more and then said,

  "Go around to the back of the house, there is a small room by the servant's entrance, you can wait there."

  "But..."

  "That's the best you'll get," the maid said decisively. Kate nodded, it would have to do.

  As she waited in the small, warm room, Kate ran through her encounter with the Alderman that morning. She had gone to the prison once more to try to speak to her husband and once again she had failed. However, today as she was outside Alderman James came out. She approached him as he got into his carriage.

  "Sir, can you please tell me something about my husband?" He looked down at her and seeing who it was he stopped getting in and stood to face her.

  "He maintains his innocence Mrs. Mullins, but the evidence is against him."

  "All of the witnesses are in the employment of Mr. Edwards!" James looked piteously at her as she said this.

  "This again?" he asked in a tired voice.

  "He has told me plainly that if I leave my husband, he will see to it that all the witnesses disappear."